I Felt It

On November 25th, 2013, I woke up to morning rain.
It was maybe a good forty degrees, something like that,
and I wasn't ready for the day at all. It was a Monday.
God, I still hate Mondays. They're an enemy to us all.
I made the careful decision to bring coffee to school,
caramel swirl in a thermos mug,
and pulled on a pair of new jeans and a t-shirt.
My mom commented on my style with some distaste.
As I fixed my hair, I felt my heart throbbing a little
and I wondered why it did that.
There was a tension in the back of my throat
and my chest was clenching in fear and sadness
as though I was experiencing some kind of loss,
but I hadn't lost anything recently and everything was fine,
but nothing felt fine at all.
I felt a little sick and barely touched my coffee.
It tasted like soap and I left it on a table when I got to school.
The cafeteria was full and some kids made fun of my clothes.
The courses were all the same, the kids were all the same,
and I still felt the same, but it was as though I was losing something.
I thought, 'What did I forget? What have I lost?'
My friends didn't feel like my friends and the world seemed tilted.
Something felt very wrong, 
like when you look up while playing outside and see dark clouds,
and I began to feel very nervous and I wanted to go home.
Upon arriving home, I tried to focus on homework, but I felt tired.
The uneasiness was still there and I almost wanted to cry,
but for what reason? What could've possibly gone wrong?
What was I missing? My dinner was filling and at 9:00 PM,
I tucked myself into bed and tried to sleep.
All of a sudden, I started crying and I felt like I was suffocating.
It was such a horrible feeling, like being punched in the face,
but there didn't seem to be anything wrong. I thought I was nuts.
I barely slept that night and got up in the morning in a daze.
I walked into the kitchen with dark moons beneath my eyes
and made myself a cup of coffee. The uneasiness turned into feeling ill.
I could've sworn that I was about to vomit and I didn't feel very alive.
I felt like I had just been killed and revived as a zombie.
I went to school as usual, but nothing felt the same.
I didn't eat lunch because I still felt queasy and I didn't speak to anyone.
My friends didn't feel like my friends. Nothing was okay.
I went home and still didn't know what was wrong.
I logged onto my email to see if I had gotten any replies
to find I had gotten one from my friend's mother.
I thought it was strange because I had directly emailed him,
so why was his mother replying? I clicked on the subject title.
"I'm so very sorry to inform you all that my son, (---), has passed away..."
I felt his death and I have felt it again and again since that day.

Rovva

QC

YWP Alumni

More by Rovva

  • Eleven Years

    For eleven years, I've been a part of the YWP community. I started when I was 11 years old and I went by my old name back then. I used to publish my work here all the time, but much of my publishing has now moved to my university.

  • A Nine-Year Journey

    For nine years, I've been a part of YWP and for nine years, I've felt seen by this community. Even as I've grown up, I've watched new young writers come and share their thoughts, emotions, and stories.
  • Beaming writer

    In sixth grade, our class had a show-and-tell every week,
    and every week, a small handful of students were selected to participate in the next one.
    As I was selected, anxiety kicked in.
    I wasn't really proud of anything.